I Would
by Sabrina Empress of Insanity
Summary: At first it was just about helping out the pretty girl at the airport. But Anna learned very quickly that Mia could take care of herself quite well...so why did she stay? (shoujo-ai alert)
1. Chapter One

Author's Note: Let's try writing a piece of Kaleidofic that ISN'T Rosetta-centric, shall we? Presenting more of Sabrina's Kaleido Star obsession...and you know, this will make this the third fic I've written for this series, and I have yet to have any yaoi. OR het. Huh. It's a new wave!!!! ...or not. Meh. I'm sooo rambling. Sorry to say this chapter is rather short, since I'm getting the hang of writing these two outside of the Avenue K crackverse...but hopefully it's not totally deplorable. Enjoy, I guess?

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Chapter One

The girl had been standing there for a good twenty minutes without seeming to have noticed the leering glances being thrown her way, and Anna began to wonder if she shouldn't go over and help her.

"Anna!" One of the girls beside her leaned in closer, trying to force her attention back to her. "You were telling us about the llama, remember?"

"I finished that story." Anna pause for a moment, then dropped her head as the failure washed over her again. "No one got it...no one ever gets it..."

The girls sitting nearby let out collective sighs, but she didn't notice.

"Why isn't the bus here?" a small blonde with a rather snobbish voice complained after a bit. "It's been fifteen minutes."

"It's like, some of us have been waiting here for hours," agreed another girl sitting beside her, tossing her dark hair petulantly.

Anna wondered again why she was waiting at the airport shuttle pick-up with the others. She knew how to get to the Kaleido Stage easily enough. She'd been there plenty of times, usually heading there right from the airport. Still, she felt like she ought to arrive with the rest of the auditionees, and so here she was, stuck in passenger pickup with everyone else. Not that she really minded. Everyone was friendly, and if she could get a ride instead of having to trudge her way through LA with her luggage in town and no one to keep her company, why not deal with a few whiny wannabe divas?

The girl looked nervous. She kept reaching up and twirling a strawberry-blonde pigtail around her finger, and looking around with steadily more panicked eyes. She wasn't even looking at her luggage anymore. A man actually picked up her suitcase to move it so he could get at something at the stand where she stood, and she didn't even notice. Anna decided she had better do something before someone stole it next time. She hopped off the bench, grabbing her wallet so she could pick up some water or something at the stand while she was there, and glanced over her shoulder at the other entrants. Most of them were busy checking their luggage for the twentieth time or trying to get to know the others before they became competition, but a few were watching her. Smiling, she dropped forward from the waist and swung her arms comically, taking on an ape walk. She snickered to herself as she loped across the rotunda but kept her face slack and dull. When she reached the stand, she turned around and straightened up, watching the group expectantly.

All eyes stared at her with bored disinterest. Anna turned to the side and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Every time. What am I doing wrong?"

There was a giggle at her side, and Anna looked up to see the girl staring at her with sparkling eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her and cast her gaze upward. "Ah, that expression was so cool!"

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Hmm?" The girl looked back at her, startled, and Anna noticed her eyes were a quite pretty shade of blue. "Oh! Hello."

"Hi." Anna stretched her arms back over her head and smiled back at the girl. "You know, if don't pay closer attention to your things, someone's going to take them."

"What?" The girl looked down at her suitcases and frowned. "Oh. No, I'm keeping an eye on them. I'm just running through routines in my head."

"Are you really?" Anna continued without registering what she'd said at first. "I mean, that guy came up and moved your suitcase and-"

"Bought something. If he'd taken it, I would've caught him."

"Oh." That stopped Anna in her tracks. She scratched her head and looked away, thoughtful. "If you say so. I was just a bit--did you say you were running through routines?"

The girl just smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Mia. Mia Guillem."

Questions about the girl's words disappeared, and Anna shook her hand enthusiastically. "Anna Heart. You have a nice accent. Where are you from?"

"Holland."

_"Holland?"_ Even as she wondered why the girl was traveling here all the way from Holland, she help up a finger triumphantly. "Elephants in wooden shoes!"

Mia raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Not ever."

"Gyah!" Anna slapped a hand to her forehead in defeat. "You have got to be kidding me, I thought that was a surefire one!"

Anna stared at her worshipfully and sighed, "Ah, there it is again!"

"Anna!" One of the girls that had been sitting near her stood and waved. "The shuttle is here!"

A flash of annoyance, disappointment, and relief dashed across Anna's face. She turned and took off across the terminal again, waving over her shoulder. "Sorry to bother you! Hope you have a good stay here!"

Mia waved back as the tall girl joined up with the small crowd, and smiled. Taking her suitcases in each hand, she followed behind sedately with a smile on her face.

* * *

The hotel was much nicer than Anna had thought it would be. She had assumed that since there were so many of them auditioning and so few that would remain, the rooms would b nice but hardly luxurious. Instead, she had her own room (as did many of the others, save those who had opted to share), with two queen size beds, kitchenette, a small balcony, and more channels on the television than she had back home. Anna threw her bags onto the spare bed and stretched up towards the ceiling, crowing. "Score!" 

She hopped a little in place, and turned a cartwheel carefully between the beds and the TV. It was narrow, but there was more than enough room, and the space between one bed and the balcony was large enough to do some practicing, even. Obviously she couldn't do much, but if she didn't do anything that required her to go careening down long expanses...

A booklet on the table caught her eye, and Anna picked it up and flipped through it idly. "All _right!_ Three pools and a full sauna!" She dropped onto the bed and began riffling through one of the duffle bags. After sitting in the airport for two hours before catching her flight and then again after they got in, a swim sounded just great.

As Anna strode off the elevator into the lobby, towel draped around her neck, a voice caught her ear.

"Are you sure I'm not listed? You don't have _any_ record?"

Anna turned towards the check-in desk as the clerk looked sadly at the cute redhead from the airport. "I'm sorry, Miss Guillem, but we have no record of your family calling here."

"Try...try looking in the Kaleido Stage room block?" Mia asked desperately. "That's where they told us to reserve the room..."

"I'm sorry, Miss Guillem, but-"

"Hey there!" Anna slapped a hand onto the counter and grinned at Mia. "How come you didn't say you were auditioning for the Kaleido Stage too? We could've talked on the ride over, I got stuck listening to this guy from Denver griping about airport security the whole way over here."

"Anna!" Mia seemed surprised. "I didn't get a chance to, I-"

"Oh, you're having trouble here, let's fix that first, got it?" Anna rested her arms on the counter and grinned at the clerk. "She's not listed anywhere?"

"As I've been explaining to Miss Guillem, we have no record of her reservation-"

"All right, are there any rooms free now?"

The clerk straightened up and his voice took on a rehearsed tone. "Unfortunately, this hotel is unable to honor traveler's checks or out-of-country payments without both account holders present, nor are we at liberty to rent out rooms to minors withou-"

"So she can stay with me." Anna tilted her head curiously. "That's not a problem, is it? The room's paid for, after all."

The clerk frowned, perplexed. "I...don't see why not..."

"Great!" Anna picked up one of the suitcases at Mia's feet and started towards the elevator. "Come on, I'll show you the room and then you can get changed and come swimming with me."

Mia blinked, then broke into a relieved smile and hurried after Anna.

"That was wonderful!" she gushed as the elevator door closed. "Are you sure it's all right?"

"Of course it is." Truth be told, Anna was far less upset about losing her single room than she'd thought she would be. She was actually quite excited about getting to know this new girl, though she had no idea why. "I have an extra bed. A lot of us do, I was just lucky enough to run into you first I guess."

"If you're sure."

"Yep."

Mia smiled again. "Well, thank you very much."

Anna glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes, and her stomach flipped. Hastily, she changed the subject. "Holland's where they have the wooden shoes, right?"

"Yes..."

"Good!" Anna nodded resolutely. "Then I'll borrow yours and have duck feet for a day!"

"Not going to happen," Mia responded dryly without pause.

Anna turned to her, crestfallen. "Why not?"

Mia's eyes sparkled. "Why not what?" she sighed.

Anna had no idea why everyone did that around her, but it was starting to get more than a bit disconcerting. Someday, she decided, she'd actually ask Mia what it was all about.

* * *

The pool area was just as nice as advertised. There was a nice-sized pool for children and families, a small wading pool, and one Olympic-sized beauty stretching out for what seemed like miles and miles that appeared to go outside underneath the walls. There were two different hot tubs, and from the satisfied looks of those filing out through the door to the sauna, it was quite enjoyable as well. Anna dropped her towel onto one of the pool chairs and looked at Mia expectantly. "Coming?" 

"I came down here, didn't I?" Mia had taken her hair out of the pigtails she'd been wearing at the airport and pulled it into a bun at the crown of her head, and she reached up with one hand to check that it was still in before slipping out of the robe she'd worn down through the lobby She draped it over the back of the chair next to Anna's and stood there in her simple peach and lavender one-piece at the edge of the pool. "You first."

Anna put a hand on her hip. "Why me first?"

"Because you wanted to go swimming, that's why."

"So did you. No one made you come."

"I'm not used to American pools."

"Oh, come on, that's beyond weak." More in an attempt to distract herself from her quivering insides again than anything, Anna reached out and grabbed Mia's arm, pulling her in an arc around her and into the pool. Mia shrieked as she hit the water and came up spluttering.

"That was a dirty trick!"

Anna grinned maliciously, double-checked that her dark blue suit was still covering everything, and dove in herself. The water felt nice, but it was _freezing!_ She popped back up to the surface and gasped. "Whoa!"

Before she could even shake her bangs out of her eyes, Mia pounced.

Both girls went under the water immediately, and broke the surface at the same time. Anna shrieked in indignation and swept a wave of water into Mia's face. The smaller girl cried out and dunked her again, holding her under this time so that she didn't follow suit. Anna kicked, then wrapped her arms around Mia's legs and pulled her under too. Mia let out a yelp and her eyes at she met Anna's under the water were startled and full of mirth. Anna started to kick to the surface, but when she met Mia's gaze, her legs failed to listen to her. Mia made a face under the water and pointed at Anna, then slashed a hand across her throat. _You are so dead_.

Then she grinned, and Anna had to laugh for a second. The other girl did the same, sending bubbles up around her face and through her bangs, casting little bursts of light across her face. A few strands of hair had escaped her bun and floated dreamily around her head. For some reason, this struck Anna as absolutely hysterical and she snorted, reaching out to wave her hands over the drifting strands. Mia put a hand up to the side of her head, realized what was going on, and smiled with perplexity at Anna just before the other girl leaned in to kiss her underneath the water.

It was about that time thatbreathing suddenly seemed much less important, and though they were both gasping when they broke the surface, it wasn't from lack of air.


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note: Ah, here we go, more yuri fluff. So, hopefully now things will be a bit easier to write. We can hope, at least. Enjoy?

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Chapter Two

Mia was burrowed happily under the covers of her bed, occasionally wiggling around and sinking further into the plush comforter and puffy pillows. Only a small circle of strawberry blonde was visible above the blankets, and as Anna watched her from her own bed she was reminded a bit of a hamster burrowing under a pile of wood shavings. A very pretty, leggy hamster with pigtails.

Anna shifted so that her feet didn't hang over the end of the bed and studied the girl sleeping across from her again. Her head hurt a little bit. What had possessed her earlier? Anna was used to going with the flow, to following her impulses and intuition, but this...that kiss was spontaneous even for her.

Not that Mia had seemed to mind. Then again, she hadn't acted as if it were anything more than a game, or that anything had happened at all.

When they had resurfaced at last, Mia had stared at Anna for a moment before sinking down into the water again until only her eyes and the top of her head were above water. Anna immediately felt a flash of panic and moved in closer, concerned. "Mia, a-"

The other girl had suddenly popped back up and playfully spat a stream of water right at Anna. She laughed as Anna fell back, startled, and swam away, calling back to Anna. "Come on! You wanted to swim, didn't you?"

Anna tired to glare at her, but grinned instead and went after her. For the rest of the evening they had gone on that way...as if nothing had happened at all.

If it weren't for the odd smiles that Mia wore the rest of the night, it might have all been a dream.

Anna turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She traced the shadows across the stucco and tried to understand what had happened. She'd known this girl for only a few hours. They might not even see each other after the auditions at the end of the week. It wasn't even like Anna was terribly attracted to her; she hadn't dated anyone before, she hadn't had any interest in it, but she'd had a few crushed before and she didn't even feel _that_ much towards Mia. It was just curiosity about the cute, kind of quirky new girl from another country. Not that Mia wasn't attracting...Anna didn't look at people from that standpoint as a rule, and no other girls that she could remember, but she supposed Mia was attractive; pretty, healthy hair, sparkling blue eyes, legs that went on forever, a slim willowy figure, and a smile that lit up the room...

Anna felt a wave of warmth wash over her for a moment. There it was again. Something about that smile. Not the one she used when she was...fangirling was best word Anna could think of...but the one from the elevator, and when they were splashing around in the pool, and under the blue water.

Anna turned back onto her side and found herself staring into a pair of bright eyes peeking out from the covers. Mia gigged and buried herself into the blankets again, and Anna snorted before flipping onto her other side.

Well, nothing's happened either way. Let it go. Focus on the auditions. Must...pass...auditions...ignore the pretty leggy hamster with pigtails and sleep.

* * *

"Anna?" Mia carefully slipped up onto the bed and curled up on top of the still-made covers. "Anna, are you awake?"

There was no sound save the hum of the air conditioner and the tall girl's heavy, slumbered breathing. She didn't move. Mia stared at the back of Anna's head in silence for a moment before speaking again, a bit more quietly than before. "I can't sleep. I shouldn't have slept so near the end of the flight over here."

It would be about noon back in Holland, but here it was still hours before dawn. Mia rested her head in the crook of her arm. "I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow. What should I do?"

She waited for a breath. "I guess I'm kind of spacey. I'm not usually, really. I just didn't think about it this time. The sleeping thing I mean. I was too excited." She smiled and snuggled in a little closer to the sleeping mound of blankets. "I've dreamed about this for years, being a star on the Kaleido Stage. I've wanted to be a performer like this since I was a baby. It's so exciting to get a chance to actually do it. I bet you're excited, too. Right, Anna?"

There was no answer, naturally, but the silence made Mia aware of how the volume of her voice was escalating. She brought it back down. "I was too excited to think about jet lag. I'm sure it happens to a lot of people. Even if I don't get in, this might be the best week of my life." She shook her head carefully so as not to disturb the bed too much. "I'll get in, though. I have to. I promised everyone back home, and Grandma especially. I can't be afraid I won't get it. I have to know I will.

"I can take care of myself."

Anna let out a small sigh in her sleep and one of her feet twitched. Mia suppressed a giggle and waited for a moment before going on. "I know you don't know I'm talking to you, but it's like I've known you for years, and who else am I going to talk to this early in the morning? Maybe you'll hear me and remember, anyway. Wouldn't that be something?

"I think I read that somewhere...what you hear when you're sleeping you remember when you wake up. That's why people talk to relatives that are in comas or things like that. I did it once, when Grandma first landed in the hospital." Mia's voice grew scratchy as her whispers caught at the knot in her throat. "We were so afraid. It was so sudden, after all. I kept talking to her, hoping she would wake up and show us she was still all right. I wouldn't stop until the doctors made me leave. What if I didn't get to say all those things to her that I wanted her to hear? Like how much we all loved her and would miss her if she was gone...

"I was so glad when she was awake the next day and could talk with us. And the funny thing was, she talked with me about things I'd said the day before, even though she hadn't been there to hear them. She's so strong. I know she'll be fine. I just never saw her that sick before. I'd never seen her catch a cold. She's having surgery this year, in three or four months I think, maybe more. They don't know yet. She says she'll make it through, but...she was so sick once before, what if she doesn't?"

Mia choked. "She's as fallible as the rest of us."

Anna turned onto her back, almost as if she were turning towards Mia. The other girl smiled weakly. "See? You do hear me, even if you don't know it."

She draped an arm across Anna's torso and closed her eyes. "I can take care of myself, you know, I really can. I can try my hardest and be strong, as strong as Grandma always was. The women in my family are all strong like that. But it was so cool how you came to my rescue like that. And you didn't think I was weak, either."

Mia moved a bit closer. "Even now, you're trying to help me, and you aren't even awake."

She sighed quietly, but it was a contended sound. "And you're so pretty. I never found any other girls back home, my family didn't mind but I wasn't sure I was strong enough to risk anyone else finding out. But you're so pretty and I bet you'd protect me if I wasn't strong enough.

"But I feel strong enough around you as it is, so maybe you don't have to. I think I'd just like it if you did."

Mia opened her eyes a crack and a small smile tugged at her lips. "You won't remember any of this in the morning I bet. It's too bad. If something happens and I don't see you after this week, this would be a nice memory to share with you."

* * *

When Anna woke up, she was surprised at first to be alone. She had been dreaming of being a little girl again, sleeping with her parents after a nightmare because they could do everything. They made her strong in the dream...waking up alone was a bit of a start.

When she sat up, the first thing she spotted was Mia stretched out across the floor between the beds, legs spread in the splits, hands held out at her sides, leaning forward so that her stomach, chest, and face all rested barely a hair above the floor.

"You're up early."

Mia looked up without changing position and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe you woke up late."

"No, it's..." Anna glanced at the clock and blinked. "Ten o'clock? I mean to set the alarm for eight thirty."

"Why? We don't have to leave for the stage until after lunch, right?"

"Yes, but I wanted to get in an early swim."

Mia giggled and sat up, stretching herself over her left leg. "Swimming must agree with you."

Anna stared at her in surprise, and a flash of shyness went through her. "It's a good way to start the day, that's all." To cover up, she climbed out of bed over the end of the mattress to avoid getting in Mia's way and held her hands up against her jaw line like fins. Her voice took on the tone of a bad Italian gangster. "Better'n sleepin' wit' da fishes, miss."

Mia's blue eyes were totally empty. "Nice try."

Anna threw her hands up in despair and slid to the floor, draping herself over the bed. "I'll never get it."

She didn't even notice Mia's delighted squeal. In fact, she didn't even remember the other girl was there until she heard the other girl bounce to her feet...literally, with three little hops...a few second later. "They're still serving the breakfast buffet. Let's hurry! I want to have an American breakfast!"

"They can't be that different from Holland, can they?" Anna asked with raise eyebrows. "And it won't be anything special, just dry croissants and old fruit with bacon and sausage."

"It sounds like an adventure."

"More like a suicide mission."

Mia started, then broke out laughing. Anna stared at her in perplexity for half a second, then leaned forward with shining eyes. "I made you laugh?"

Mia just giggled again and brushed her bangs out of her face. "That was cute. I liked that."

"Wait, wait!" Anna snagged a shirt off a chair and threw it on over the halter top she'd worn to bed. "Let me try two for two!"

"No, I want to eat. Hurry up, Anna, let's go!" Mia all but bounced at the door. "The buffet closes in half an hour."

"Ah, hang on!" Anna hastily slipped into her shoes and took off after her without a look back. "Hold the elevator!"

Mia held the door open with a teasing grin as the tall girl slipped inside. "Are you that slow performing?"

"Do you cheat that much?" Anna leaned back against a wall and blew out a breath in relief. "Where is the buffet located?"

"Um, in the...ah..." Mia's brow creased in thought. "In the Morning Room restaurant. I think it's the one down the hall with the gift shop, right?"

"I think so." Anna straightened up again, and suddenly frowned. "Do you have a key?"

The other girl stared at Anna for a moment. "...No..."

Anna fell back against the elevator wall again. "This had better be a good breakfast."

Mia giggled. "Think of it as an adventure. After all, the rest of the trip has been."


End file.
